1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to building structures and more particularly to an improved composite floor system for a building structure such as a manufactured home or the like.
2. Prior Art Statement
Various systems have been devised in the prior art for providing a frame for a building structure such as a manufactured home or the like. The frame is one of the most important elements of a manufactured home. The frame must be strong in order to transport the manufactured home from the manufacturing plant to the permanent site. In many cases, a transportation wheel assembly is affixed to the frame enabling a truck to tow the manufactured home to the ultimate destination. Thereafter, the frame was required to support the building structure on a foundation.
Many building structures such as a manufactured home or the like incorporate plural longitudinally extending beams spaced apart in a parallel relationship. A plurality of transverse beams rest upon the plural longitudinally extending beams in a parallel relationship. A floor sheet material is affixed to the plurality of transverse beams resting upon the plural longitudinally extending beams. A flexible insulating material is affixed to an underside of the plurality of transverse beams. Unfortunately, the flexible insulating material affixed to the underside of the plurality of transverse beams was subject to damage by diverse causes.
A number of unique flooring systems for building structures such as manufactured homes and the like have been devices in the prior art. Many of these unique flooring systems for building structures are set forth in my prior United States Patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,267 to Lindsay discloses a unified floor and frame assembly with a skirt for a mobile building. The floor and frame assembly has a pair of parallel I-beams which extend the length of the building being mounted atop a plurality of parallel beams extending the width of the building. A plurality of parallel members aligned with the lower beams are mounted atop the pair of beams and are supported by vertical legs. Floor sheets are mounted atop a plurality of ribs that extend the length of the building being recessed in the members. The lower beams form ledges that receive and support the building side walls. A wheeled carriage is removably connected to tubes mounted beneath the floor-frame assembly for transportation of the building. Skirts are fastened to the building side walls and extend to the bottom end of the unified floor-frame assembly.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,015,375 and 4,019,299 to Lindsay discloses an improved floor frame assembly incorporated into a mobile building. A pair of identical frame assemblies form the floor of the building each including a plurality of middle beams mounted to and atop lower beams and further including a pair of adjacent interior sidewalls attached to the middle beams and extending therebeneath being adjacent the lower beams. The exterior sidewalls are mounted to the frame assemblies. Wheeled carriages are removably mountable to the assemblies facilitating transportation of the assemblies to a building site. A skirt is permanently mounted externally to the sidewalls and extends adjacent the floor assembly. A bracket is connected to the middle beam and the bottom beam of each frame assembly and in addition is connected to a pole that supports the adjacent middle portions of the frame assemblies. The interior sidewalls are slidably received in the bracket. In an alternate embodiment, the floor frame assembly is incorporated into a floor joist.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,258 to Lindsay discloses a composite wood and steel joist assembly in which steel channel members form a U-shaped configuration with inwardly extending portions formed at the free ends of the legs. The steel channel members forming this configuration have their open sides facing outwardly. Wooden members of rectangular cross-sectional configuration are inserted and secured within the bight of the channel members so that wood surfaces, accepting wood fasteners such as nails or staples, are presented outwardly around the complete perimeter of the joist assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,189 to Lindsay discloses a floor frame assembly, formed principally of wood material, having two load-bearing outer beams and front and rear end members defining a periphery and a plurality of transverse load-supporting trusses connected normal to the outer beam between the end members. In a preferred embodiment, each truss has an upper elongate member, a shorter central elongate member attached parallel thereto by vertical cross-braced elements, and on either side of the central member a braced vertical member spaced therefrom to provide gaps of predetermined height and width. Each truss also has an end portion of the upper elongate member in cantilever form for contact thereat with a load-supporting surface at the permanent location of the floor assembly, so that additional external beams or continuous wall surfaces to support the completed floor frame assembly and any superstructure thereon is rendered unnecessary. The floor frame assembly may be further supported by conventional piers or jackposts at points under two elongate, load-supporting, inner beams closely received and connected to the trusses within the gaps. These inner beams may optionally be made of a wood material supported along the edges at selected portions by metal reinforcement, or entirely formed of I-section beam lengths. In one aspect of the invention, at least one of the load-supporting outer beams has a larger vertical dimension than the other outer beam. The two floor frame assemblies may be united at their respective wider outer beams to provide additional support thereunder to generate a conmensurately larger floor frame assembly structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,809 to Lindsay discloses a unified floor frame assembly having two elongate outer load supporting beams formed of elongate beam sections that are butt-spliced to be cambered in parallel vertical planes to counter forces that may tend to cause sagging of the floor frame assembly during transportation. At inner vertical perimeter surfaces of the elongate beams are provided attachment plates for attachment, first, of a wheel carrier assembly detachably mountable thereto with a plurality of wheels partially recessed within the floor frame assembly and, second, a towing hitch assembly attachable to a forward end of the floor frame assembly for applying a towing force thereat. A moisture, dirt, insect and pest excluding thin covering is provided underneath the floor frame assembly and sections of heating and ventilating ducting, piping, wiring and the like are includable during manufacture of the floor frame assembly. Individual floor frame assemblies may be supported at their permanent location underneath the periphery or, where two such floor frame assemblies are to be coupled to obtain a larger size floor, central elongate beams may be supported by metal posts. Upon delivery of the floor frame assembly to its intended location, the wheel carrier assembly and the towing hitch assembly are both detached and removed therefrom for reuse.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,072 to Lindsay discloses a unified floor frame assembly having two elongate outer load-supporting beams formed of wooden elongate beam sections that may be selected to have different vertical cross-sectional dimensions and, optionally with two thicknesses united, are butt-spliced to be cambered in parallel vertical planes to counter forces that may tend to cause sagging of the floor frame assembly during transportation. A wheel carrier assembly is detachably mountable thereto with a plurality of wheels partially recessed within the floor frame assembly and a towing hitch assembly is attachable to a forward end of the floor frame assembly for applying a towing force thereat. Wooden I-beams are used as transverse frame members to provide lightweight strength and floor frame widths of the order of 18 ft. to 20 ft. A moisture, dirt, insect and pest excluding thin covering is provided underneath the floor frame assembly, and sections of heating and ventilating ducting, piping, wiring and the like are includable during manufacture of the floor frame assembly. Individual floor frame assemblies may be supported at their permanent location underneath the periphery or, where two such floor frame assemblies are to be coupled to obtain a larger size floor, central elongate beams may be supported by metal posts. Upon delivery of the floor frame assembly to its intended location, the wheel carrier assembly and the towing hitch assembly are both detached and removed therefrom for reuse.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,546 to Lindsay discloses a towable unified floor frame assembly derived length-wise strength from two elongate I-beams disposed symmetrically about a longitudinal axis. The I-beams are separated by a plurality of angle-sectioned metal cross members welded therebetween. A plurality of trusses, corresponding in number and location to the metal cross members, is disposed to support an outer perimeter and a floor thereabove. Each truss incorporated upwardly inclined bracing elements located outwardly of the I-beams connected to flat metal connection elements individually unified to the I-beams, preferably by welding. A waterproof and dirt-excluding cover entirely covers the underneath of the floor frame assembly. Heating and ventilating ducts, power and telephone wires, water and waste pipes, thermal insulation and the like, are installed within the floor frame assembly. The entire floor frame assembly, and any superstructure built thereon, may be readily towed to a selected location on a plurality of wheels detachably mounted to brackets provided underneath the I-beams, a towing force being applied by a forwardly disposed detachable towing hitch. The floor frame assembly and its superstructure to rest on the wheels and a jack supporting the towing hitch or, optionally, may be supported underneath the I-beams by externally provided support elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,809 to Lindsay discloses a lightweight, strong, economically-manufactured, and safely transportable modular unified floor assembly includes a lengthwise wooden girder beam formed with male and female ends to facilitate cooperative integration thereby to another similar floor assembly. In another aspect of the invention, the floor assembly is manufactured with a stairwell opening of selected size and at a selected location. The floor assembly even with a stairwell opening according to this invention is strong enough to be transported comfortably and safely from its point of manufacture to the site at which it is to be located for use.
Insulating composite panels have been used for many years in the building industry. The composite panels have been used for walls and roofs of building structures. Typically, the insulating composite panels comprise a lamination of a substantially rigid insulating material interposed between a first and a second sheet material. The substantially rigid insulating material is a substantially rigid close cell foam such as a styrofoam or the like. The first and second sheet materials are plywood or some equivalent structure that is adhesively affixed to opposed sides of the substantially rigid insulating foam.
The intermediate insulating foam is undercut relative to the first and second sheet materials for allowing single or plural wood beams to be received within a recess between the first and second sheets. The composite panels were assembled by placing a plurality of panels adjacent to one another with single or plural beams received within adjacent recesses in adjacent panels.
The use of composite panels has been effective for wall panels. However, the use of composite panels for flooring or for roofing has not found widespread use in the art.
It is a primary object of the present invention to incorporate the superior design of my prior United States Patents to incorporate and use composite panels for flooring and roof structures.
Another object of this invention is to provide a composite insulated floor system for a building structure that adds to the mechanical strength of the building structure.
Another object of this invention is to provide a composite insulated floor system for a building structure that is designed to add to the structural strength of the floor of the building structure.
Another object of this invention is to provide a composite insulated floor system for a building structure that provides an insulating flooring or a insulating roof structure.
Another object of this invention is to provide a composite insulated floor system for a building structure that provides a light weight insulating flooring or a insulating roof structure.
Another object of this invention is to provide a composite insulated floor system for a building structure that is adaptable to a floor of the building structure or a roof of the building structure.
Another object of this invention is to provide a composite insulated floor system for a building structure that provides a substantial saving in labor costs.
Another object of this invention is to provide a composite insulated floor system for a building structure which provides a substantial saving in assembly time which may provide a manufactured hone with walls, floor and roof incorporating insulating composite panels.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the present invention. These objects should be construed as being merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Many other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention with in the scope of the invention. Accordingly other objects in a full understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description describing the preferred embodiment of the invention.